During the summer of 1948, Alfred Kinsey's research assistant Clyde Martin began the laborious data analysis for Alfred Kinsey's second book on sex, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. Writing from 1951 through the end of 1952, in the shadow of the ongoing debate over his first report on male sexuality, Kinsey was somewhat more careful the second time around. Turning to statisticians for advice, Kinsey purged his sample of prison inmates and other subjects he considered atypical, and addressed assorted other lesser complaints that had plagued the earlier work. On the whole, however, the work remained pure Kinsey, with reams of data and a healthy dose of advocacy.

Advocating for Female Sexuality
Like the first volume, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female was organized into three parts: (1) "History and Method," in which he sought to answer much of the criticism of the male book; (2) "Types of Sexual Activity Among Females," in which he discussed female sexual development from childhood through puberty, along with sex dreams, masturbation, and intercourse; and (3) "Comparisons of Female and Male." According to Kinsey's statistics, more than 90% of females had indulged in sexual petting, 66% had dreamt about sex, 62% had engaged in masturbation, 50% had had premarital sex, and 26% had had extramarital sexual encounters. Kinsey used these numbers to argue forcefully that women were no less sexual than men, and had as much right to seek out and expect sexual satisfaction. He further asserted that a satisfying, libidinous sex life was essential to marital bliss, and that women who had had sex before marriage were more likely to have happy, sexually satisfying marriages than those who had not.

Threat to American WomanhoodSexual Behavior in the Human Female came out in September of 1953 to a second massive media blitz, coordinated by Kinsey himself, who was featured on the cover of Time magazine. He received many letters about the book, some critical and others anguished pleas for help, but many simply from women who wanted to thank him for his work. But if Kinsey expected his book to convince the nation that women were just as sexual as men, he was disappointed. Many news outlets did not even report the book's publication. Most of those that did sought to defend the purity and sanctity of American females from what they saw as Kinsey's assault, describing his work in such terms as "an indictment of American womanhood." Furthermore, critics that bothered to read the tables typically pointed out that even Kinsey's data showed that females were not as sexually active as males.